Proverbs 7:23 BSB — MannaFest

Proverbs 7:23

until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare—not knowing it will cost him his life.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Till an arrow strike through his liver; As a bird hasteth to the snare, And knoweth not that it is for his life.

KJV

Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

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Commentary

4 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

Till a dart strike through his liver,.... The fountain of blood, and so of life; which, being pierced through and poured out, is certain death, Lam 2:11; the meaning is, till he is slain either by the hand of God, or by the civil magistrate, or by the jealous husband; and be thrust through by him, as Zimri and Cozbi were by Phinehas.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

Hippolytus of Rome

Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments (235)

The "cemphus" is a kind of wild sea-bird, which has so immoderate an impulse to sexual enjoyment, that its eyes seem to fill with blood in coition; and it often blindly falls into snares, or into the hands of men. To this, therefore, he compares the man who gives himself up to the harlot on account of his immoderate lust; or else on account of the insensate folly of the creature, for he, too, pursues his object like one senseless.

Ambrose of Milan

On Cain and Abel (397)

With a provocative movement of a prostitute, with a disrupted gait through delights, with wandering eyes, and with playful darting of her eyelids, she captures the precious souls of young men (for the eye of a prostitute is a snare of a sinner), and with doubtful perception, she accosts anyone passing by in the corner of her house, with charming words, causing the hearts of young men to flutter, restless at home, wandering in the streets, prodigal with kisses, cheap in modesty, rich in attire, painted cheeks.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The ox thinks he is led to the pasture when he is led to the slaughter; the fool (that is, the drunkard, for, of all sinners, drunkards are the greatest fools) is led to the correction of the stocks, and is not sensible of the shame of it, but goes to it as if he were going to a play.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

13 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
עַ֤ד	'ad	until	H5704 →
יְפַלַּ֪ח	ye.fa.Lach	it will pierce	H6398 →
חֵ֡ץ	chetz	an arrow	H2671 →
כְּֽבֵד֗וֹ	ke.ve.Do	liver his	H3516 →
כְּמַהֵ֣ר	ke.ma.Her	as hurries	H4116 →
צִפּ֣וֹר	tzi.Por	a bird	H6833 →
אֶל־	'el-	into	H413 →
פָּ֑ח	Pach	a trap	H6341 →
וְלֹֽא־	ve.lo'-	and not	H3808 →
יָ֝דַ֗ע	ya.Da'	he knows	H3045 →
כִּֽי־	ki-	that	H3588 →
בְנַפְשׁ֥וֹ	ve.naf.Sho	[is] for life his	H5315 →
הֽוּא׃ פ	Hu'	it	H1931 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Ecclesiastes 9:12
For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.
leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3
  While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- Luke 21:34–36
  But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Proverbs 6:15
  Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.
- Proverbs 29:6
  An evil man is caught by his own sin, but a righteous one sings and rejoices.
- Ecclesiastes 8:5–7
  Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
Through
Proverbs 9:18
But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
leads to
- Proverbs 7:27
  Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.
Through
Proverbs 1:17
How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it!
leads to
- Jeremiah 8:7
  Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
- Job 35:11
  who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’

About Proverbs

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Proverbs: the study guide →Read chapter 7 →The featured study →

Continue: Proverbs 7 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Proverbs

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Proverbs